ALGIERS (Reuters) – An Italian woman on a tourist trip to the Sahara desert in Algeria has been kidnapped by al Qaeda insurgents, Algeria’s official news agency and a government security source said on Friday.

Insurgents operating as al Qaeda’s north African wing have been active in the Sahara desert and have kidnapped several foreigners, but until now most of their activities have been in areas of the desert south of Algeria’s borders.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian opposition groups said on Friday they would probably go ahead with a planned protest march next week despite promises from the president to heed some of their demands and allow more political freedoms. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, keen to stop uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia spreading to his energy-exporting state, said on Thursday he would give the opposition air time on television and soon lift a 19-year-old state of emergency.

“I believe we will march as Bouteflika’s new measures did not convince us,” said Rachid Malawi, head of the independent union of civil servants and one of the protest organisers.

ALGIERS, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Algerian opposition groups said
on Friday they would probably go ahead with a planned protest
march next week despite promises from the president to heed some
of their demands and allow more political freedoms.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, keen to stop uprisings in
Egypt and Tunisia spreading to his energy-exporting state, said
on Thursday he would give the opposition air time on television
and soon lift a 19-year-old state of emergency. [ID:nLDE71228E]

“I believe we will march as Bouteflika’s new measures did
not convince us,” said Rachid Malawi, head of the independent
union of civil servants and one of the protest organisers.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria promised to end a 19-year-old state of emergency and provide more political freedoms Thursday, concessions designed to keep out a wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world.

The announcement by the energy exporting nation followed pressure from government opponents, some inspired by unrest in Egypt and Tunisia, who demanded the emergency powers be scrapped and are planning a protest in the capital on February 12.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Thursday promised more political freedoms, saying a 19-year-old state of emergency would be lifted soon and the opposition would have access to television and radio.

The announcement follows mounting pressure from some government opponents who, inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, had been planning a protest march in the capital for next week.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria will not be swamped by a wave of unrest spreading through Arab states because it is investing its energy revenues in improving peoples’ lives, a senior ally of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said.

Abdelaziz Belkhadem, head of Algeria’s ruling FLN party and a cabinet minister, acknowledged the authorities could be doing more but said that, unlike in Egypt or Tunisia, Algerian protesters were not demanding a change of government.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria has ordered an urgent acceleration of wheat imports, aiming to snuff out unrest over food prices which helped oust Tunisia’s leader and sent protestors onto the streets of its North African neighbors.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia issued the instruction to the state grain agency to speed up imports of soft and durum wheat, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday.

ALGIERS, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Algeria expects oil production
to remain steady in 2011, while liquefied natural gas (LNG)
supply contracts will be met despite reduced capacity, the head
of state-owned energy giant Sonatrach said on Tuesday.

“We will stick to oil production which will be practically
the same as in 2009 and 2010,” Sonatrach chief executive
Nourredine Cherouati told a news conference.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – A small group of Algerian opposition supporters trying to hold a banned protest clashed with police in the capital and several people were injured, protest organizers and official media said on Saturday.

The protest was scheduled to take place just over a week after a wave of demonstrations in neighboring Tunisia forced that country’s long-standing president to flee, sending shockwaves through the Arab world.

CAIRO/ALGIERS (Reuters) – A self-immolation that triggered unrest which brought down Tunisia’s leader has led to apparent copycat protests in other north African states, with four men setting themselves on fire in Algeria and one in Egypt.

In Cairo, a man set himself ablaze on Monday near parliament in a protest against poor living conditions.